Naperville School District 203 officials have revised the existing intergovernmental agreements that have been in place with the city of Naperville and village of Lisle for school resource officer positions through the respective municipalities’ police departments.
There are several drivers behind the revisions, including a three-pronged list of new requirements the district must adhere to via Public Act 104-0420, which went into effect Wednesday, July 1. Naperville 203 officials also have incorporated additional language changes, in consultation with the police departments, beyond state law.
What the new public act means for SROs
Chuck Freundt, Naperville 203’s assistant superintendent for leadership and school services, confirmed the district is in compliance with all state laws at a board of education meeting Monday, June 15.
“This is simply making sure that our MOU, which we’ve had for several years, has those three things that were signed into law by the governor back in August in the MOU agreement with both the city of Naperville and the village of Lisle,” Freundt said.
One of the key changes to the MOU agreements addresses the issuance of citations, which are now prohibited on school property in response to a school-based consequence or a municipal code violation.
“Please note that while this is an update in the language contained within the MOU/IGA, it has not been our practice for SROs to issue citations on school property for disciplinary consequences for years,” Freundt noted in his memo.
Another new provision under state law requires annual reviews of SRO agreements; the process must include community input.
“We are in the process of developing this review process in collaboration with Lisle PD and Naperville PD for 2026-2027,” Freundt noted.
The final component takes effect in a year — for the 2027-28 school year — and addresses data collection and reporting to the Illinois State Board of Education. By law, the district, beginning next fall, is required to report the number of students being referred to a law enforcement agency.
“We anticipate guidance from ISBE in the next year or so,” Freundt said of this specific provision.
Additional change also incorporated into MOUs
In addition to the three state-level changes, Naperville 203 and the Naperville and Lisle Police departments have agreed to another change — referring to all students, regardless of age, as “minors.”
“Both the city of Naperville and the village of Lisle are in full agreement that their interactions as SROs with our students, regardless of age, apply period, end of story,” Freundt said of the “minors” distinction during his recent discussion with the board. “There are no issues there, so we made those adjustments.”
Previous SRO agreements between the departments drew a hard line between the traditional definition of a “minor,” meaning younger than age 18.
There are two additional components district officials are exploring with the pair of police departments, pertaining to pursuit of a fleeing student and deceptive tactics, though no changes have been incorporated at this time.
In his memo, Freundt indicated both departments, based on conversations, “remain committed to ongoing training to ensure SROs understand the dangers of pursuit and employ only when the safety of the student and/or campus is at significant risk.”
On the matter of deceptive tactics, Freundt said both agencies “interpret the law to already prohibit the use of such with students, have department policy and training to reinforce the prohibition, and agree with Naperville 203 legal counsel that restating this law in the MOU/IGA is not necessary at this time.”
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